The 125th playing of the U.S. Open will include a pair of Wisconsin golfers, as Harrison Ott and George Kneiser played their way into the third major championship of the year through 36-hole qualifying on June 1. The U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pennsylvania will be held June 12-15.
Ott, a Brookfield native and a Wisconsin state amateur and state open champion, advanced out of the Kinsale Golf and Fitness Club in Columbus, Ohio, by claiming one of six spots with his fifth-place finish with a 6-under par total of 138. He avoided a playoff that included PGA Tour stars Rickie Fowler and Max Homa (who did not qualify) by one shot. Four-time PGA Tour winner and Rookie of the Year Cameron Young won the playoff to secure the final bid out of Ohio.
Ott, 26, plays out of Tennessee full time and missed the cut in his one Korn Ferry Tour start this year. He played five times on PGA Tour Americas last year, making two cuts.
Kneiser, an Oconomowoc native and University of Wisconsin-Green Bay alumnus, advanced out of the Duke University Golf Club in Durham, North Carolina. He claimed one of seven spots by tying for fifth with a 3-under total of 137. He bested former U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson to move on.
Kneiser, 27, missed the cut in the PGA Tour’s Wyndham Championship last year. He played six events on the PGA Tour Americas last year and 10 on the PGA Tour Canada in 2023.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Pair of Wisconsin golfers qualify for U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club
Reporting by Jim Owczarski, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
